


Hero was His Middle Name

by EmiBeani



Category: The SpongeBob Musical - Various/Anthony & Coulton/Jarrow
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 03:17:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13538550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmiBeani/pseuds/EmiBeani
Summary: The volcano incident, but with a twist. After a terrible tragedy strikes Bikini Bottom, the town is left on it's own to recover. But what will they do when nobody seems to be willing to work together? It was kind of Spongebob's job to keep them together.





	1. Chapter 1

**SpongeBob POV**

 

_ Of course  _ climbing the volcano was the easy part. 

 

Spongebob Squarepants stared up a wall of boulders blocking his path. The ascent to the mouth of the volcano was gentle, and if nothing were in the way, he and his team would be there already. But apparently, the avalanche that nearly killed him (but reunited him with Patrick) had also decided to shove a bunch of boulders in their way. And now, it seemed like the team of tres had climbed up Mount Humongous only to be stopped so close to the top. 

 

“...Pat?” He turned to his pink sea star friend. “Could we use that jetpack to fly over the boulders?”

 

Before he could respond, Sandy shook her head. “Definitely not. If Patrick flew all the way up here, there's no way that jetpack has enough fuel for another take off. If we tried, we would probably be dropped in mid air, and be back where we started. Only this time, we would also have broken legs”

 

Spongebob considered informing her that if his legs did break, he could just get new ones, but decided against it. As far as he was aware, Sandy and Patrick didn't have that option. “Can either of you fit through those spaces…?”

 

His friends go silent, and it takes him a second to realize they were both staring directly at him. “...You're the flexible here, Spongebob.” Sandy said slowly. “Neither Patrick nor I could possibly fit through those crevices.” Patrick nodded in agreement. 

 

He stares at them for a full five seconds before realizing what they meant. “Oh… no… I-” He looked back to the wall of boulders in his way. At any given moment, another avalanche could happen. And if it did, he would be dead. And this time, Patrick couldn't save him.

 

He shook his head. “Look at that thing! Mr Krabs was right, I-I’m just a simple sponge-!”

 

And, somehow, that was exactly what he needed to say. He was constantly reminded of what great friends he had- and now, once again, he was amazed by how determined they were to lift his spirits. And he realized, as they gave example after example of his worthiness- it was exactly what he should be doing. These past few days, he let his confidence drop so low that he didn’t feel like himself anymore. 

 

Well, it wouldn’t be like that anymore. 

 

“Give me the Eruptor Interruptor” he told Sandy, his voice barely a whisper.  With the metal contraption was safely in his pocket, he begins maneuvering through the cracks in between the boulders. 

 

The climb was more rigorous than he imagined. Halfway there, he nearly gave up on the spot. Instead, to give himself motivation, he told himself what he still had trouble believing. 

 

“I am not a simple sponge!”

 

From below him, his friends yelled. He was pretty sure it was encouragement, but he couldn't really tell at this height. He kept climbing.

 

“I am not a simple sponge!!” His voice grew louder. 

 

“I am not- I am not- I AM NOT-” He gasped for breath. “A SIMPLE-” He climbed over the last boulder in his way “SPONGE!!” 

 

This time, he believed it. With all his heart.

 

He looked down into the heart of the volcano and nearly fell over. The heat was unbearable- and the lava beneath him was blistering. He gulped. It could char him in an instant.

 

He carefully turned and looked down to where Pat and Sandy were. “DO I JUST THROW IT IN?” More yelling. “I'M ASSUMING THAT'S A YES!”

 

He turned back to the mouth of the volcano. With all the strength he could muster up, he threw the device into the lava.

 

As he watched it's descent, he beamed with pride. Finally, it was over. Finally, the town was safe. Finally, he could be proud. He shouted down to his friends, who were waiting for him. “GUYS! I THREW IT IN! I-”

 

And then the ground beneath him gave way. 


	2. Chapter 2

**SpongeBob POV**

 

He didn't feel the tremor.

 

The moment he felt the ground beneath his feet give way, his survival instinct kicked in and he tried to grab the edge as he fell. His hand scraped against the stone and panic set in. With a stroke of luck, he grabbed a small ledge jutting from the side, about halfway down.

 

He gasped for breath, barely hanging on to this tiny, life saving piece of rock. He tried to grab the ledge with his other hand as well, but it was too small, way too small. He could already feel his hand starting to slip. He could hear Patrick and Sandy screaming too, but he wasn't sure what they were saying. Regardless, they would never make it on time.

 

_ I'm going to die. _ This was his first coherent thought as tears began to fill his eyes, blurring his vision.  _ I'm going to die and Sandy and Patrick won't need me anymore, and everyone will be right, I am just a simple sponge- _

 

_ Wait.  _ He looked down. The Erupter Interrupter had just sunk beneath the surface of the lava. Right now, according to Sandy, it would be working to save the thousands of people below him, everyone who he knew and loved. 

 

_ They were wrong.  _ Despite his situation, he began to smile.  _ They were wrong. I  _ was  _ able to make it to the top. I  _ was  _ able to drop in the device. I'm not simple. I matter. _

 

His hand was slipping. He was barely holding on. 

 

“I…” 

 

Three fingers.

 

“Am not…!”

 

Two fingers.

 

“A Simple!!”

 

One.

 

He screamed as he fell.

 

“SPONGE!!”

 

He hit the boiling liquid.

 

**Sandy POV**

 

She felt the tremor. 

 

She screamed at him to be careful. Stay away from the edge, the ground was unstable, be careful! 

 

He mistook it for “Yes”.

 

And now she was at the mouth of the volcano, scanning for Spongebob desperately. She couldn't believe he was dead, he just couldn't be dead. He had survived worse, so there's no way this would kill him, right? 

 

Deep down though, she knew this time was different. Every time she her eyes didn't land on the yellow boy, her heart sank lower, and she came closer and closer to realizing the truth.

 

She wasn't sure when it hit her, but when it did, she slunk back from the edge, slouching in disbelief. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she took a shaky breath.

 

SpongeBob SquarePants was dead.

 

And part of her told her it was her fault.

 

**Patrick POV**

 

He felt the tremor.

 

He wasn't sure what to do when it hit. Surely it wouldn't cause any problems for his little buddy all the way at the top, right? Unfortunately, he was wrong.

 

He didn't see him fall, but Sandy did. She screamed his name, and rushed forward. Patrick, confused, did the same. 

 

The tremor moved a lot of boulders out of the way, but it took the combined frantic strength of him and Sandy to get to the top. When they finally got there, both were out of breath, and Sandy was desperately scanning for- well, he assumed it was his buddy.

 

He stood there, panting heavily, watching Sandy. He still didn't really comprehend what was happening, but he slowly began to realize he didn't see his friend anywhere on the top of the volcano. Anywhere at all, actually. A deep pit started to form in his throat.

 

“...Sandy?” He turned to his squirrel friend, who glanced at him with tears in her eyes. “...Where's SpongeBob?”

 

She wiped away her tears with her sleeves, shaking her head vigorously. “Don't make me say it…”

 

“Wh- what do you mean? Say what?” He was starting to panic. “Where is he, Sandy? He's gotta be around here somewhere!” He started scanning for him as well, as if he just might be hiding. “Where is he?!”

 

“He's dead, Patrick.” Her face was gaunt, her voice hollow.

 

“He's dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day! Here's your gift: a dead Sponge!! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Squidward POV**

 

He wasn't sure how he expected to die, but it certainly wasn't from being hit over the head with a platter, moments from being blown to smithereens from a volcano. 

 

And yet, here he was. Running for his life from Fred the fish, who was holding a now empty platter of Krabby Patties, surrounded by the people of Bikini Bottom, who were  _ wrecking  _ the town. And in a few minutes, the volcano would blow, killing them all nevertheless. 

 

Definitely not how he thought this day would go. 

 

“Quick! Everyone!” Came a voice that drew everyone’s attention. “Those  _ fools  _ perished in an avalanche! We have to get to the escape pod and-” Plankton paused, looking around. “...What the heck happened here?”

 

Squidward took this as his cue to come forward angrily. “I’ll tell you what happened! Those- those Electric Skates you hired were complete idiots! Orders me around to fetch all their ridiculous junk, then up and quit on me! On all of us!” He purposely left out the part where he called them all losers; might not have been the best decision on his part. 

 

Turned out, Plankton didn’t care whether or not it was his fault. He turned his rage to him anyway. “They  _ WHAT?!”  _ He grabbed Squidward by the front of his shirt and shook him brutally. “Then- how are we affording the escape pod?!”

 

As he glanced around feverishly, realization dawned onto his face. “Oh my neptune, we don't have the escape pod, do we?” He glanced at Karen, who had an equally sick expression. “We killed our only hope of surviving.”

 

And, once again, chaos erupted. Only this time, everyone seemed to be targeting the couple who had just arrived. 

 

“You did  _ what?!”  _ Squidward yelled.

 

“What the hell did you do?!” Krabs demanded.

 

“We’re all going to die!” Someone shrieked. 

 

This went on for a few more minutes; a few more minutes filled with terror and blind rage and Plankton yelling “I tried to save you all, you ungrateful sh-!”. Squidward wasn’t sure when everyone managed to calm down, but when they did, it was out of pure confusion.   
  


“...Why did we stop?” He looked around; everyone was staring at the clock in the middle of town square. It was accepted over the past two days that it was the clock counting down their doom. Slowly, he turned his head to look at it too. 

 

The clock read 5 minutes past 6. The sun had set at 5:55. They had been alive for a full ten minutes longer than they should have been. And nobody was sure why.

 

“...Maybe Sandy was off on her calculation?” He offered meekly. Nobody answered. 

 

“Look!” Mrs Puff yelled. The crowd of people turned to where she was pointing. There, floating toward them with a huge parachute, was Sandy, Patrick and…

 

Squidward squinted. He wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, but the lack of SpongeBob seemed to speak volumes to him. Maybe it was just how he was doing used to him, but how Spongebob wasn't there was the first thing he noticed. 

 

As soon as the duo landed, they were rushed with people, including himself, peppering them with questions. Patrick looked down at his feet and refused to say anything. Meanwhile, Sandy was desperately trying to push people away from them, avoiding their questions at all costs. 

 

Finally, Squidward got fed up. Pushing his way to the front, he got into Sandy's face and yelled into her face: 

 

“Where’s Spongebob?!”

 

And Patrick burst into wails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so short and bad, this chapter was gonna be longer but it was so hard to keep going in the same POV after this cut off and I finally decided to split it. And I'm super sorry for the long wait, Chapter 4 will come out sooner I swear!


	4. Sorry Not An Update

Ok I hope you guys have realized this by now but this fic has been discontinued :(. I might write a short one shot based on the same idea but this is officially done for

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Uhhh this is my first time writing a fanfic so!! I hope you guys enjoy my angsty little world...


End file.
